Extended wavelength SWIR InGaAs focal plane array: Characteristics and limitations

Room-temperature operating means a profound reduction of volume, power consumption, and cost for infrared (IR) photodetectors, which promise a wide range of applications in both military and civilian areas, including individual soldier equipment, automatic driving, etc. Inspired by this fact, since the beginning of 1990s, great efforts have been made in the development of uncooled thermal detectors. During the last two decades, similar efforts have been devoted using IR photon detectors, especially based on photovoltaic effects. Herein, the proven technologies, which have been commercialized with a large format, like InGaAs/InP pin diodes, InAsSb barrier detectors, and high-operating-temperature HgCdTe devices, are reviewed. The newly developed technology is emphasized, which has shown unique superiority in detecting mid-wavelength and long-wavelength IR signals, such as quantum cascade photodetectors. Finally, brand-new concept devices based on 2D materials are introduced, which are demonstrated to provide additional degrees of freedom in designing and fabricating room-temperature IR devices, for example, the construction of multi-heterojunctions without introducing lattice strain, the convenient integration of optical waveguides and electronic gratings. All information provided here aims to supply a full view of the progress and challenges of room-temperature IR detectors.has its own IR radiation characteristic which contains a wealth of information. For thousands of years, people have studied the visible light as the sensory spectrum of the human eye is only 380-740 nm. But for the invisible IR, people did not know it until the British astronomer Herschel discovered it with a blackened mercury thermometer over 200 years ago, since then the IR technology had developed slowly because people were not aware of the importance of IR in the next 100 years. [1,2] During World War II, PbS IR detectors for the first time were applied on battleships as a "top-secret" instrument, thus people began to focus research on IR technology. In comparison with visible, IR technology has unique characteristics:better environmental adaptability, stronger anti-interference ability, and higher resolution capability. With advantages of working at night or in harsh weather, transmitting information securely, and identifying the camouflaged target accurately, the IR detectors have been researched and widely applied in military, national defense, bioscience, and other momentous fields. [3][4][5] In the historical development of IR photo detectors, the response spectral is being extended to longer wavelengths; the pixels of imaging have been expanded from single element to tens of millions; the operating temperatures of cooled IR detectors are being increased to be closer to room temperature. [6][7][8] Nowadays, the remote IR imaging becomes clearer; the noise-equivalent temperature difference (NETD) of IR detection systems can reach 10 mK [9] or even lower; and IR detection systems become more and more integrated. [10] However, most high-...

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Section: Bulk Materials In Sensing Of Ir Photon At Room Temperaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Sensing Infrared Photons at Room Temperature: From Bulk Materials to Atomic Layers

Wang

Xia

et al. 2019

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109

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“…The ternary III-V compounds In x Ga 1−x As (0 < x < 1) with features such as relatively high carrier density, wide direct band gap ranging from 0.35 to 1.42 eV, high reliability and radiation resistance [1][2][3][4][5], have wide applications in short-wave infrared photodetectors [6][7][8][9] and solar cells [10,11]. Particularly, high indium content In x Ga 1−x As (x = 0.82) detectors with a cut-off wavelength of more than 2 µm applied in aerospace imaging (such as earth observation, remote sensing and environmental monitoring, etc.)…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of In0.82Ga0.18As/InP Double Buffers Design on the Microstructure of the In0.82G0.18As/InP Heterostructure

et al. 2017

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Abstract:In order to reduce the dislocation density and improve the performance of high indium content In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As films, the design of double buffer layers has been introduced into the In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As/InP heterostructure. Compared with other buffer layer structures, we introduce an InP thin layer, which is the same as the substrate, into the In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As/InP heterostructure. The epitaxial layers and buffer layers were grown by the low-pressure metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (LP-MOCVD) method. In this study, the surface morphology and microstructures of the heterostructure were investigated by SEM, AFM, XRD and TEM. The residual strains of the In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As epitaxial layer in different samples were studied by Raman spectroscopy. The residual strain of the In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As epitaxial layer was decreased by designing double buffer layers which included an InP layer; as a result, dislocations in the epitaxial layer were effectively suppressed since the dislocation density was notably reduced. Moreover, the performance of In 0.82 Ga 0.18 As films was investigated using the Hall test, and the results are in line with our expectations. By comparing different buffer layer structures, we explained the mechanism of dislocation density reduction by using double buffer layers, which included a thin InP layer.

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“…1 Because it offers a wide, direct band gap, high carrier mobility, and high reliability, [2][3][4] it is widely used in infrared detectors, [5][6][7] solar cells, 8 and transistors. [9][10][11] In recent years, III-V compound films have often been produced using epitaxial growth, 12,13 with techniques such as metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD or MOVPE) [14][15][16][17] and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). [18][19][20] However, for these methods, the lattice mismatch between the In x Ga 1x As thin film and the substrate is the most important problem to be solved.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthesizing InxGa1−xAs using molten In and GaAs by the sessile drop method at 400–600 °C

Zhao

Ding

et al. 2017

AIP Advances

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We studied the surface reaction between metallic In and a single-crystal GaAs substrate at 400–600 °C induced by the improved sessile drop method. Studying the surface morphology and microstructure using scanning electron microscopy, we found that many large particles had formed on the GaAs substrate, indicating a violent reaction between the In and GaAs. This reaction became more violent with increasing temperature. Characterizing the generated phases by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, we identified the particles as InxGa1−xAs compounds. Our results show that indium (In) reacted with single-crystal GaAs through this method to form InxGa1−xAs compounds. Moreover, during the synthesis of InxGa1−xAs by the sessile drop method, the molten In and GaAs exhibited wettability at 400–600 °C. This experiment lays the foundation for synthesizing InxGa1−xAs compounds only using the metal In and GaAs substrate by a simple method.

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Extended wavelength SWIR InGaAs focal plane array: Characteristics and limitations

Cited by 56 publications

References 14 publications

Sensing Infrared Photons at Room Temperature: From Bulk Materials to Atomic Layers

Sensing Infrared Photons at Room Temperature: From Bulk Materials to Atomic Layers

Effects of In0.82Ga0.18As/InP Double Buffers Design on the Microstructure of the In0.82G0.18As/InP Heterostructure

Synthesizing InxGa1−xAs using molten In and GaAs by the sessile drop method at 400–600 °C

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